The End of the World
by crazykitsune17
Summary: What happens when a powerful earthquake kills everybody on earth EXCEPT Kuwabara and Hiei? Can the two get along well enough to possibly save the world? Chapters 16 of 17 uploaded. Reviews and Cosntructive Criticism wanted.
1. Chapter 1

**The End of the World**

by crazykitsune17

A/N: This is another one of my old fics. The chapters are a bit short, so I apologize for that, and since, at the time I wrote this, I was still in my anti-Kuwabara stage, there is some slight Kuwabara-bashing. I'm over that (for the most part) now, so don't judge me there. Please enjoy the story; read and review!

**1. Jiusenki's Earthquake of Evil – The Apocalypse Begins**

Yusuke, Keiko, Botan, and Yukina were all gathered at Kurama's house, celebrating the long-awaited end to the Dark Tournament. They had invited the whole team and their helpers, but Shizuru was on vacation (and hadn't taken her younger brother) and Genkai had just declined, saying that, "the youngsters wouldn't want an old lady interfering with their party time shenanigans". The team was scattered around the floor in Kurama's spacious bedroom, waiting for the last two members to get here. Kuwabara and Hiei were late.

"What is taking them so long?" Yukina asked, grabbing a pretzel from the snack-filled desk and popping it into her mouth.

"I'll bet Hiei's just blowing us off," Yusuke said, stretching and leaning back against Kurama's bed.

"Don't say that!" said Keiko sharply. "I'm sure there's a good reason he's late, and the same goes for Kuwabara."

"I'm not worried about Kuwabara," Yusuke said offhandedly. "He's probably just gotten lost on his way because he can't read the street signs."

The team all had a good laugh at this. Though they were good friends with the tall boy, they liked to make fun of him.

"I just hope Hiei gets here soon," Kurama said worriedly. "If he's not here in twenty minutes, he's not going to get any Mountain Dew…" He glanced over at Yusuke's pile of at least 5 empty soda cans littering the ground around him. Yusuke just belched loudly in reply.

Hiei was walking along the sidewalk, taking his time to get to Kurama's party. He didn't really want to go; he'd much rather stay in his tree all day and threaten the squirrels who dared to interrupt his solitude with his katana, but he knew that Kurama would be happy if he went. He had his hand shoved into pockets and his katana resting in its sheath by his side – just in case. He glared at the pristine sidewalk and kicked a few pebbles that were in his way.

Kuwabara was hurrying down the sidewalk in the opposite direction as Hiei. He was pumping his arms and legs as fast as they would go and panted like a fat kid running a mile. Hiei saw him coming and groaned. _Great, the idiot was invited too…_ he thought bitterly. He slowed down even more, not wanting to walk in the door with Kuwabara.

Unfortunately, Kuwabara noticed him and called him over. "Hey, Hiei!" he shouted, waving at him. Hiei tried to ignore him, but Kuwabara kept trying to catch his attention. "Hey! Hiei!"

Finally, Hiei gave in. "What, Kuwabara…?" he demanded in the most unenthusiastic voice he could muster.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who's late," Kuwabara began. "I mean, I confused up the numbers in the address and accidentally ended up at this old lady's house…" He rambled on and on, and Hiei was about to give him a taste of his wrathful katana when he felt the ground underneath him shake violently.

"Woah! It's an earthquake!" Kuwabara shouted, waving his arms out to catch his balance.

"Hn…" The two were at Kurama's doorstep when the shaking began again, this time much more violent than before. Kuwabara grabbed the mailbox on the side of Kurama's house and clutched it for dear life as the ground shook and shattered beneath their feet. A large crack appeared in the ground, separating Hiei, who was clutching the opposite wall to stay on his feet, from Kuwabara next to the mailbox. The crack split open wider, revealing the earth below. Pebbles and dirt crumbled into the crack and disappeared into oblivion.

"Wh-whoa! S-some earthquake!" Kuwabara yelled over the earth's loud roaring and groaning.

"We have to get inside!" Hiei shouted back, reaching out for the door handle as the house began to vibrate. He pulled open the door, beckoning for Kuwabara to follow him. They entered into the Minamino living room and looked for something to hide under. Kuwabara saw the futon and tried to squeeze himself under it. Hiei rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen, tripping on a broken chair leg. He slid under the table just in time as a large kitchen cabinet came crashing onto the floor right where he had been standing. Kuwabara was lying, half-covered by the futorn, on the floor, almost nothing protecting his mortal body. Books and decorative items crashed down on his body, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Baka…" Hiei hissed, but Kuwabara didn't hear him.

The earthquake showed almost no sign of stopping, which was odd. Most earthquakes lasted only about a minute or two. But the ground was still cracking, causing the carpet in the living room to rip apart and let the earth show through. The house was falling apart!

_Kurama…_ Hiei thought for a moment. _What if he's hurt?_ He quickly shook the thought out of his mind as he reassured himself, _Kurama's the smartest person I know next to myself, I'm sure he can take care of himself and everybody else. He'll be all right._

Then Hiei saw something odd. Down the hallway, where Kurama's room was, there was a blinding flash of white light. It lasted for barely a second, but Hiei and his Jagan-enhanced vision noticed it. _What was that…? _he wondered. He crawled out from under the table, the ground still shaking and shuddering heavily beneath him as he tried to walk toward the room. The severe trembling nearly knocked him off his feet a few times, but he eventually made it to Kurama's room. As he was about to open the door, a large display case came tumbling off of the wall, hitting Hiei hard on the back of the head, knocking him out.

Though neither Hiei nor Kuwabara knew it, the earthquake had lasted a little over an hour. Both boys were unconscious, having been knocked out by heavy things falling on top of them. Finally though, many hours later, they regained consciousness and found the house completely destroyed.

Kuwabara ran up the hallway and shoved the display case off Hiei's body. Hiei growled and batted him away, grumbling, "I could do that myself, you fool…" Kuwabara ignored him and wrenched open the door to Kurama's room.

There was nobody there. "Kurama?" Kuwabara called. "Yusuke? Keiko? Anyone?" There was no answer. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Kuwabara yelled into the room. "Come on, answer me!"

"There's nobody there," Hiei said, crossing his arms and leaning against the cracked door.

"I know that!" Kuwabara snapped. "But they might be in there, playing a joke on us… Stupid Yusuke…"

Hiei rolled his eyes again and made an agitated sound. "Don't roll your eyes at me!" Kuwabara shouted, rounding on the small fire demon.

"What are you, my mother?" Hiei retorted. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Yeah, well…" Kuwabara struggled for a witty remark, but just ended up pulling his bottom eyelid down and sticking his tongue out. Hiei just stared and inwardly shook his head at the boy's immaturity. "Let's check the other rooms," he said.

The two boys checked every room in the house they could get to, including the ones that were on fire, where Hiei "accidentally" knocked a flaming chunk of plaster into Kuwabara's face. But each room in the house was completely empty. Even the pet tropical fish were missing.

"Where is everybody?" Kuwabara asked.

A demon dressed in black robes stood in front of a large video screen in the Makai. The screen was showing various parts of the world—they were all destroyed. France was on fire; the Great Wall of China was split into several miniature salls of China; California had broken completely away from the United States and was sinking into the Pacific Ocean.

A woman dressed in a matching black hooded robe that covered her eyes and black leggings entered the room where the demon was standing. "Master Jiusenki?" she asked timidly.

"Yes?"

"The entire world has been eradicated save for the fire demon and his red-haired friend," she said.

"Good… good…" said Jiusenki, the demon in front of the TV. "Their help in the eradication of Spirit World will be very useful…"

NEXT TIME – "FLASHBACK OF THE APPRENTICE – DESPICABLE PROMISE OF THE BLOODLUSTING DRAGON, JIUSENKI!"


	2. Flashback of the Apprentice

A/N: Short chapter, I apologize. Most of the chapter in this fanfic are short, but please read and review anyway. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome!

Also, FYI – the all-italics is not a typo. It's a flashback, if you couldn't guess.

**2. Flashback of the Apprentice – Despicable Promise of the Bloodlusting Dragon, Jiusenki**

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Jiusenki's apprentice walked back to her room in his underground mansion in the Makai. Pulling her hood off, the woman shook out her bushy auburn hair and stared at herself in the mirror. Her aqua-colored eyes stared back at her; the brightest feature in the dark, dismal room. Jiusenki's fortress had very few lights in it, but the woman was getting used to moving around in the dark. She sighed and adjusted her fox ears atop her head; her ears weren't used to being stuck under a hood all day and it was very uncomfortable.

She threw off the rest of her cloak and listened to it hit the floor, the cloth making a "fa-lump" sound on the black carpet. She pulled off her long, black leggings and pulled on her favorite pair of pink shorts. She wasn't used to wearing leggings or all black, but she knew she would have to get used to it someday. She would be working for Jiusenki for a while…

She remembered when she had met the demon Jiusenki…

* * *

_It was the end of the Dark Tournament, and the stadium was collapsing. The underdog, Team Urameshi, had just won the tournament, beating out the dangerous demon, Toguro. Sakyo had left his mark by blowing up the tournament stadium, killing himself and almost everybody in there. Team Urameshi, Juri, and I had escaped... but barely._

_I ran as far away from the crumbling stadium as I could. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I ran into somebody. It was a dragon demon… Not a huge dragon, but pretty big, at least ten feet tall in height, and a purplish-bluish tint to his scales. He had a thin body, but he was still pretty muscular and terrifying._

_I screamed and began to run in the opposite direction, but the demon stopped me. He put a large, scaly dragon hand on my shoulder and said in a gravelly hiss, "You're that referee from the Dark Tournament, aren't you?"_

"_Kind of…" I replied. "I mean, I _was_, but then I got bumped to a box commentator."_

"_That does not matter," the dragon said. "You have seen all of the fights in the Dark Tournament, correct?"_

"_Haven't missed one yet!" I said proudly._

"_Good. Then you would know of a certain fire youkai and his red-haired friend who were both competitors of Team Urameshi, right?" the dragon asked me._

_I nodded. "Of course! That's Hiei and Ku—"_

"_Silence!" the dragon roared. "You don't want them to know we're talking about them."_

_I nodded my apologies. "Sorry…"_

"_Now, since you know these two fighters, will you become my apprentice?"_

Apprentice?_ I thought. _Why does this guy need an apprentice…?_ "I'm not sure," I answered. _

"_It would be very beneficial for you," the dragon replied persuasively. "I will pay you quite a substantial amount of money if you help me, and I can get you a job, broadcasting the downfall of Spirit World and the death of Prince Koenma and King Yama to all of Makai."_

_Downfall of Spirit World? Death of Koenma and King Yama? I wasn't so sure about that…_

"_Come on, lady. I'm giving you a good offer. You would be wise to take it."_

_There was something about this guy's voice that just creeped me out… He was threatening me… On one hand, the prospect of a cool broadcasting job and a lot of money sounded pretty good, but… the price was the downfall of Spirit World? Would I have anything to do with Spirit World's downfall? I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk being punished by King Yama if his plan failed…_

"_I have told you my plan," the dragon said. "Now that you know it, you have to become my apprentice. If you don't, I will make sure I kill you."_

_Kill me? Yikes! That didn't sound like fun! "Uh… o-okay!" I agreed timidly. "But… can I at least know your name, sir?"_

"_Jiusenki."_

_I nervously stuck out my hand for a hand/clawshake. "I'm Koto."_

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**NEXT TIME: REALIZATION OF THE HORRIBLE TRUTH – THE LAST MEN ON EARTH!**

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**Reviewer Responses!**

**lazy fat kitsune**: The next few chapters should answer your question. Thanks for reading and reviewing! n.n

**Izandria Johnson**: Again, you'll find out in the next few chapters! Thanks for the review!


	3. Realization of the Horrible Truth

A/N: O.O This chapter isn't even 500 words… Now that is just sad, even for me… -.- Oh well. Please stick with me and please read and review!

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**3. Realization of the Horrible Truth – The Last Men on Earth.**

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After the earthquake, Hiei and Kuwabara set out on a search of the city, looking for Kurama, Yusuke, the girls, or… anybody, for that matter. It seemed as if the usually-busy city had been deserted, wiped out. All the city needed was a tumbleweed and a gust of wind blowing ominously by.

The two boys called out to the wind, hoping that maybe somebody would hear them in the deserted ghost town. No one did.

Finally, after a few hours of searching many buildings and popular rendezvous spots in the city, Hiei and Kuwabara returned back to Kurama's house.

"Did you find anybody?" Kuwabara asked Hiei.

"No," answered Hiei shortly.

"I didn't either," Kuwabara said, his voice full of worry. "I wonder why nobody's in town, they can't have all gone on vacation… could they?"

"Hn, baka," said Hiei, glaring at Kuwabara. "Of course they didn't all go on vacation, you fool. They must have disappeared like Kurama and the others…"

"But why?"

"How should I know?" Hiei snapped. "Stop asking such stupid questions!"

"Well sor-ry!" Kuwabara sassed back. "I'm going into the house…" Kuwabara walked into Kurama's trashed house and turned on the TV. There was nothing but static fuzz on. "What the…? No TV?"

Hiei stood outside, listening to Kuwabara complain about no TV. _What an idiot…_ he thought to himself. _Worried over a trivial matter such as no television when there are more important things to be worrying about… Tch. Humans make me sick... One of these days, I'll just rip out—_

Hiei was jerked from his thoughts when Kuwabara opened the window. "Hiei," he said, his voice shaky. "Hiei… there's really nobody left on Earth…"

"Glad you finally noticed," Hiei replied wryly.

"But, Hiei… once we die… there won't be _anybody_ left on Earth!" Kuwabara fretted. "We can't reproduce to repopulate the world!"

Hiei's eye twitched, having a sudden vision of himself and Kuwabara trying to have sex to repopulate the Earth. The thought of that nearly made him retch.

"—And if we can't reproduce, then the whole world is doomed—"

_Some kind of demon must be behind all this,_ Hiei mused. _Either it is a demon in the Maka, or one still here on Earth… But… if they wanted to wipe out the world… why would they leave us? I can understand a demon wanting to leave me here, since I am a strong and of the youkai race, but why Kuwabara? He can't do anything useful! Surely the demon must know that… So then… why? Who is doing this? And… why were we left…?_

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NEXT TIME: CURIOSITY KILLED THE KITSUNE – SEVEN BILLION ESCAPED SOULS!

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**Reviewer Responses!**

**Animefouryou**: Thanks for your run-on review:) Just kidding, but thank you!

**Peeka-chan**: World War 3: Kuwabara vs. Hiei… That'd make a great movie. XDD Koto's a girl. Thanks for the review:)


	4. Curiosity Killed the Kitsune

A/N: 'Kay, just to warn you, this story does involve an original character of mine. Her name is Reishi (my name in Japanese), but she's not a Mary-Sue. She's just there in the background… You'll see who she is in a minute. I don't like putting in OCs, but I just liked this one so much that I did. uu Pardon and review, please!

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**4. Curiosity Killed the Kitsune – Seven Billion Escaped Souls**

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Later that night, Koto crept downstairs to her master Jiusenki's underground lair. This was where his other apprentice, an intelligent part-human who lived in the Makai named Reishi, usually worked. Reishi was the technical mastermind behind Jiusenki's plot to eradicate the earth so he could take over and merge it with the Demon Realm. Reishi was very skilled with computers and human technology, and thanks to Jiusenki's somehow endless supply of money, the team had many large electronic gizmos and monitors in the underground lair. 

Koto looked around the room. It was dark; there were no lights. The screens of the gigantic computers were coal-black and blank like the eyes of a possessed soul. _Souls…_ Koto thought. _Where did all the souls go…?_

It was a question that had bothered her ever since Jiusenki had explained his plan. If he was going to wipe out the earth, he needed a place to put the souls of the people he vaporized. Jiusenki planned to use them as a sort of bargaining chip for something from what he loosely mentioned to her, but Koto wasn't sure what. She then looked to her right and saw a medium-sized cylindrical chamber with a neon, gel-like substance bubbling inside of it.

Koto approached the cylinder and put her hand to the glass. It was cold, leaving her handprint in the misty condensation. She then peered deeper into the neon-green gel and saw a little furry fuzzball. She squinted, trying to get a better look at it. She still couldn't see it very well through all of the liquid in the chamber. Frustrated, Koto pounded a large button on the flat panel in front of her. The button opened up the cylindrical cage, and the fuzzball flew out. The neon-green gel stayed suspended in midair.

Koto reached out and grabbed the fuzzball, peering at it closely. Whatever it was, it somewhat resembled a flying, hamster and pufferfish crossbreed with wings and a beak. Its eyes were golden and bulging, and its little chicken-like feet scratched against Koto's hands. The bird-like creature then opened its beak and let out an ear-piercing screech that could wake the dead. Koto dropped the animal and clamped her hands over her sensitive fox ears. _Ugh, that screaming is horrible! It's so loud!_ she thought to herself as the bird continued to shriek.

Koto heard footsteps tramping down the stairs. It could only be Jiusenki and Reishi, coming down to see what had created that awful noise. Koto gulped; she knew she was in trouble now…

And to make matters worse, the bird-thing flew up out of the underground dungeon, out of the cracked window on the above floor and out into the darkness outside. "No!" Koto yelled, trying to dash up the stairs to grab the bird again, but it had already left.

"Koto!" Jiusenki's booming voice roared as he emerged from the left-side staircase. Reishi had come down the opposite set of stairs, the ones that led from her room, wearing a steely cold scowl on her pale face.

"Um…" Koto trembled, her fingers fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

"Koto!" Jiusenki yelled, bending down and shoving his face in front of Koto's.

"Yessir?"

"What are you doing down here?" he demanded, spit flying in Koto's face.

"Um… um… nothing, sir!" Koto said in a rush.

"Nothing, eh?" Jiusenki scoffed. "Then explain to me why the _whole entire world_ just escaped through the crack in the window!"

"The… whole… entire world, sir?"

"Did you even know what that thing was?" Jiusenki roared.

"N-no, sir!"

"That thing was the object that held all of the souls of the world! Everybody who died in that earthquake has his or her soul trapped inside that animal!" Jiusenki explained gruffly. "Now, thanks to your carelessness, they have all escaped!" Jiusenki was fuming mad, his white, scaly dragon face taking on an ugly reddish hue. Koto was frightened, shaking madly as she met the dragon demon's angry glare.

"I… I didn't know!"

"Obviously!" Jiusenki shouted, his voice shaking the room. "Our plan could be in real jeopardy now! If anyone were to find that bird, they could set the souls free and our plan would be _ruined_!"

"Highly unlikely," came Reishi's drawling voice from behind the shadows. The young woman brushed a lock of dark brown hair from her piercing green eyes and continued. "As creator of the Soul-Carrier, I was in charge of putting an unbreakable code on it. Should anyone happen to stumble upon it, they would _never_ be able to crack its code by the time we take over Spirit World. Also, remember, Jiusenki, that there are only two people left on Earth in the first place. The chances of the fox demon and the fire demon finding it are very slim to none."

Koto gasped. "F-fox demon?" she questioned.

"Yes, fox demon, girl, just like you," Jiusenki spat. "You know, the two who we spared from the earthquake!"

"Fox demon…" Koto repeated, squeaking on the words. "Fox demon…"

"What's your problem?" Jiusenki questioned angrily. "You say that like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"No, it's just that…" Koto started, her voice barely above a whisper. "When you told me to save the 'fire demon and his red-haired friend', I didn't know you meant the fox one, Kurama! I saved the other red-head, Kazuma Kuwabara!"

"You _WHAT?"_ Jiusenki roared, a few bits of plaster falling down from the ceiling from the volume of his voice. "YOU MEAN YOU SAVED THE WRONG MAN!"

"Uh… uh-huh," Koto nodded, shrinking her head into her jacket. "Oops…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry's not goina cut it," said Jiusenki smoothly as he pulled back his massive fist and socked Koto hard in the stomach, sending her reeling backward into the wall. Reishi's eyes followed as the kitsune slammed against the wall and slumped down, her lip bleeding. She said nothing as Jiusenki continued his assault and continued to beat Koto into unconsciousness.

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NEXT TIME: ADVENTURES INTO LONLINESS – THE ACHING HEART OF A FIRE DEMON!

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**Reviewer Responses!**

**Animefouryou**: Thanks for the review! I will update soon.

**Peeka-chan**: Lol, 'kay, no problem. I knew what you meant. Lmao, yeah, I guess Hiei is part ice maiden… I wasn't thinking about that when I wrote this… Too bad, 'cuz if I did, I would've gone on and on about the possibilities and probably turned this into some sick sort of mpreg fic… O.o;; Wait, that's a bad thing, isn't it:shrugs: Eh… Anyway, thanks for the review:-P

**Izandria Johnson**: I think this chapter explained briefly what happened. Let me know if it doesn't make sense! We shall see what becomes of Hiei and Kuwabara… :folds hands: We shall see… And, to answer your question, yes, that does mean that I only have a total of 17 chapters. It really doesn't add up to much when I take into account how short they all are… :frowns: Sorry if that's a disappointment, but once I get all of my old fics posted here, I will start on my newer ones, and they are longer. Thanks for reviewing!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	5. Adventure Into Loneliness

A/N: This is definitely OOC for Hiei, but I wrote this because I got a thing for angst. And whatever Hiei Fangirls are reading this will probably go "Awwwww", and that's my purpose here… :shrugs: Originally, this was going to be an all-out wangst session complete with loud sobbing and possible self-inflicted injuries. Thank god it didn't turn out like that… o.o Please read and review; I'm sorry it's so short!

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**5. Adventure Into Loneliness – The Aching Heart of a Fire Demon**

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Hiei and Kuwabara had decided to stay at Kuwabara's house, which was, for the most part, unharmed by the earthquake. The two of them sat around in the living room; Hiei on the couch and Kuwabara on the floor.

"So… what do you think we should do?" Kuwabara asked Hiei.

Hiei didn't reply. He just stared out the window behind Kuwabara.

"I mean, seriously, since we're the last two guys on Earth, don't you think we should do something to try and… I dunno… save it or something?"

Again, Hiei said nothing.

"But without any girls, we can't save it! Darn it! Why were we left on Earth?" Kuwabara rambled, pounding the floor with his fist.

Hiei rolled his eyes and looked the other way.

"Hey, punk, why won't you talk to me?" Kuwabara asked angrily, grabbing the front of Hiei's cape and shaking him.

Hiei's eye twitched. "Did it every occur to you that maybe I don't _want_ to talk to an idiot like you?" he growled. "Let me go!"

Kuwabara released his grip on Hiei, who glared at him, then sped off to shut himself into the guest bedroom.

"What is your problem?" Kuwabara shouted after him. "I just wanted to talk!"

* * *

Hiei leaned back against the wood paneling of the door and sighed. _Baka… Why can't he leave me alone? _He stared around the guest bedroom and looked for something to occupy his mind. Finding nothing, he sat down at the desk and stared out the window.

A clear, pale blue sky stared back at him from the window. The sun was shining brightly; no clouds were visible. The view of the neighbors' houses was blocked by a giant tree in the way. Hiei sighed again. The tree reminded him of Kurama and his plants.

_Stop it, why are you even thinking about him? _he asked himself._ I don't care that he's gone! I don't care that Yusuke's gone! I don't care that _anyone's _gone!_ _I don't care! _Though in his heart, he knew that wasn't true. He _did_ care that they were gone, and he missed them. After all they had been through, it was hard not to get attached to the Spirit Detective Team.

He laid his head down on the smooth, cold surface of the desk and frowned. He saw a tiny speck of eraser dust in the corner of it and thought of Kurama again. _Stupid bookworm fox…_ he muttered. _Why did you leave? Why did you all leave and get me stuck here with that _idiot _Kuwabara! _He groaned and unstuck his face from the desk. _This is stupid…_ he thought to himself. _Why am I letting their absence get to me? I've always been alone, and why should I be… _missing_… the others?_

He looked at himself in the mirror near the desk. _You're Jaganshi Hiei, and you don't need anybody,_ he told himself. But the eyes that stared back at him told him something different. The normally cold, indifferent, scarlet eyes were expressing some emotion formerly unknown to him – loneliness. Perhaps it was being with the person he hated most that made him want to see his other friends more. Hiei tore his eyes away from the mirror and sat laid down on the bed. Staring at the blank, white ceiling, he finally said aloud the thought in the back of his mind—

"I miss them…"

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NEXT TIME – THE BANISHED DRAGON'S TALE – ORIGIN OF JIUSENKI'S EVIL PLOT!

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**Reviewer Responses!**

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**Izandria Johnson**: Yep. I have no idea how I thought of putting them in a bird… / I don't even want to remember… :sweatdrop: Well, since this fic is already written (I wrote it at least a year ago), the only thing that needs to be done to it are the spelling/grammar revisions and a few dialogue changes. That's why I update so quickly. :) Thanks for the review!

**Animefouryou**: Thanks for the review!

**Zelia Theb**: Actually, I never even thought about Puu at the time I wrote this. They're not really of the same species, but now that you mention it, it sort of makes sense. The bird-thingy (it has a name later on) is like a pufferfish that flies, if that description made any sense at all… o.O; I can't even remember how Koto ends up in this fic; I wrote it so long ago… So I guess it'll be a surprise for me, too, to see what happens to her! Thank you very much for the review!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	6. The Banished Dragon's Tale

A/N: Boring but necessary trip into villain's past… Read and review, please!

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**6. The Banished Dragon's Tale – Origin of Jiusenki's Evil Plot**

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After Jiusenki had stopped beating Koto for her mistake, Reishi approached him.

"Jiusenki-san, you realize that it is your own fault Koto made her mistake," she said levelly.

"What are you talking about?" Jiusenki growled, an angry vein bursting in his temple. He was still in a very angry mood since Koto had set free all the souls of the world and in no mood to be pinned at fault for his subordinates' snafus.

"If you had known the names of the two you wanted saved from your earthquake, Koto's mistake could have been avoided," Reishi replied smoothly. "Really, what kind of person wants to save two specific people but hasn't bothered to find out their names…?"

Jiusenki wasn't happy with Reishi's remark. Although it was true—if he _had_ known their names, this could have been prevented—Jiusenki didn't want to pin the blame on himself. After all, _he_ was the mastermind behind this plot, why should he be blamed for anything? His face turned even redder if possible as he glared at Reishi. Reishi continued to stare back, her large, bright green eyes blinking indifferently at the intimidating dragon demon. She knew she was in for a beating from him, but at the moment she just didn't care.

As expected, Jiusenki grabbed Reishi around the waist and hurled her at the wall. Reishi didn't scream; she took the beating and let Jiusenki have his way. There was no point in fighting back against such a strong demon.

After Jiusenki was satisfied with his act of brutality, he stormed back to his bedchambers to sulk. He sat down on his tattered black satin bed sheets and sighed. He had only heard about the demons that were called "Hiei" and "Kurama". He had never known their names, but he had heard the stories…

Many years ago, Jiusenki had lived in a village full of dragons in the Makai. There weren't many other demons of his type in the village, but there were enough to start their own kind of economy. They didn't associate much with any of the other Makai demons, usually keeping to themselves and going out only to hunt for food. Jiusenki was very young at the time he was banished from that village.

The young Jiusenki was a restless, young dragon demon, full of sprightliness and energy. He couldn't stay still for very long, and the confines of the dragon village were much too small for his liking. He had wanted to roam about and see the innumerable, vast sights that the region of Makai offered, but most of all, he wanted to kill. Being as young as he was, he wasn't able to go out with the older dragons of the village to hunt, but he had heard stories that the elders would tell about their hunting trips when they returned home to their mates. Tales of slicing demons to bits, tales of how their blood would stain the dirt forever… They intrigued young Jiusenki and made him lust for the blood of another.

The lust was so strong that finally, one day, he just snapped. With his sharp claws and teeth, he went berserk and killed another dragon in the village.

As it was against the Dragon Code of the village, Jiusenki had to be punished for his heinous act. He was to be banished from the village, have his wings clipped off, and sent to live in a deep, dark crater on the outskirts of their territory.

It had hurt immensely for Jiusenki to have his wings removed. They were the most sensitive part of his body, and the dragon elders had made sure they cut them off in the most painful way possible. Bleeding and in severe shock and pain, Jiusenki was pushed into the giant crater and left there to rot.

"_May you live your life exiled in this god-forsaken crater until the day you die!"_ the chief of the elder dragons had spat as Jiusenki was pushed in.

The crater was filled with the bones and carcasses of other demons who were banished there as well. Jiusenki knew that these carcasses would only provide meat for a limited time, so he had to think fast if he wanted to escape and live to tell the tale. He couldn't fly out since his wings were cut, and he couldn't climb up the side of the crater wall; it was too smooth and lacking in proper footholds. Jiusenki, however, was determined to live. If he was going to die, he was going to die in a battle, not in a crater!

Many months later, Jiusenki's food supply of the demon carcasses started to run dangerously low. Jiusenki knew he only had about less than a month to live. He had to get out, and soon! YEt he was still no closer to coming up with a plot for escape; he had very few useful resources in the crater to use to get out, and he was losing hope.

But one day, his luck had decided to take a timely change for the better. Two hunters from Spirit World had stumbled across the crater and heard Jiusenki's angered grumbling noises coming from it. Curious, they lowered themselves down into the crater with ropes and saw Jiusenki, the banished dragon demon, at the bottom.

Jiusenki couldn't believe his eyes! These spirit hunters could help him escape! With a bit of bribing, Jiusenki was able to con the spirit hunters into helping him out. As they climbed up the rope, Jiusenki with much difficulty due to his huge claws, the spirit hunters told him what they were doing in the Makai.

"We were sent by King Yama to exterminate this whole village full of dragon youkai," one said.

_Dragon Youkai village… that must be_ my _village…_ Jiusenki thought. His heart filled with rage at the Spirit Hunters, but he kept it inside him. He couldn't kill these hunters just yet; they had to help him out first. Apparently they didn't know Jiusenki was a dragon because his wings had been clipped off.

Finally, they had all gotten out of the crater, and Jiusenki sniffed the warm, saturated air. It felt good not to be trapped in the smelly, dank crater anymore. But he would have to make time for exploring the world above later. He had to take care of the hunters…

"Thank you for helping me out," Jiusenki said gravely to the hunters. The hunters nodded. "No problem," they replied.

_No problem indeed…_ scoffed Jiusenki, fighting the urge to scowl. _Famous last words… _And with one great swipe of his claws, he had slaughtered both of the hunters who had destroyed his village. While he was bitter toward the elders of the dragon village, there was one dragon there that he had loved… A young female dragon called Suvana, but she was now dead, thanks to Spirit World's hunters. For killing Suvana, the Spirit World had to pay…

_So they were sent by King Yama…_ thought Jiusenki once the blood of the hunters had satisfactorily coated his claws. _My dragon village would never do anything wrong that would upset King Yama! He must be punished for killing my village!_

From that day forth, Jiusenki had devised a plot to destroy King Yama and all of his royal family and servants. And as an added, he could destroy _all_ of Spirit World, and possibly even the Human World! He would have demons take over all three worlds, and he would be ruler of everything!

But first, to put his plot into action, he had to strengthen his Spirit Energy. It was very weak at the time, and Jiusenki was never a really powerful demon, but he was sure that with intensive training and help from corrupted demon psychics, he could do anything!

It had taken him several years to get him to the level he was at now – a near S Class demon with the power to wipe out the whole entire Human World – but he would need some help. He couldn't take over the worlds by himself…

While he was with the psychics, Jiusenki had heard stories, stories of a famous fox bandit and stories of a fire demon with a third eye. Both were very powerful, and these two demons intrigued Jiusenki. He decided that he wanted them to help him…

Later, he had found Reishi, the young intellectual humanoid creature who lived by herself in a deserted rainforest region. She had agreed to help him, and she then became the mastermind behind the technological part of Jiusenki's plan. Then there was Koto, his second helper. But now, thanks to Koto and her mistake of mixing up the people, his plan was basically ruined…

Still lying on his bed, Jiusenki sighed. After all those years of exile and years of intense, exhaustive training, his plan would fail…

_No. It won't fail_, he told himself. _I will make sure, that even without the fox demon's help, I will take over Spirit World and became the new ruler!_

* * *

NEXT TIME: A RAY OF HOPE – A FRIEND IN DESPERATE TIMES!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	7. A Ray of Hope

A/N: Warnings – a bit OOC Hiei, slight Kuwabara-bashing… I think that's it. Please enjoy the chapter; the ones following this one will be a little bit better and more… plot-filled albeit still exceedingly short (sorry!). Please review!

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**7. A Ray of Hope – A Friend in Desperate Times**

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As Hiei sat inside the guest bedroom in Kuwabara's house, wallowing in his own self-pity and well-disguised loneliness, he suddenly heard a tapping noise on the window. It couldn't be Kuwabara; the idiot wouldn't think of using a ladder to climb up to the second floor just to tap on his window. _Maybe somebody else is left in the Ningenkai! _Hiei thought as he crossed over to the window. He looked outside, but he didn't see anything. His heart sank. _Probably just a tree branch blowing in the wind…_

Then he heard it again. But this time, the tapping was accompanied by a loud, ear-shattering screech. Hiei winced at the noise, then pushed open the window to inspect what was making the horrible racket. And instead of seeing nothing, he noticed a small, floating fuzzball flapping its tiny wings in midair in front of his face. Hiei looked at the creature in confusion, then hastily snatched it in his fist and brought it into the room.

The flying fuzzball was a tan-colored pufferfish-like creature with a beak. Hiei held it out in front of him and watched it flap around and almost smiled. It was funny-looking and looked stupid as it tried to fly away from Hiei's grip. The bird-creature made a squeaky, chirping noisea and attempted to nip at Hiei's fingers, but it couldn't squirm out of the fire demon's closed fist.

Then, the fuzzy little bird opened its beak as wide as it could go and let out an earsplitting shriek louder than anything Hiei had ever heard before. Without the window to muffle its sound, its scream was nearly four times as loud. Hiei dropped the bird and clamped his hands over his ears to try to block out the noise. The bird then commenced flitting around the room at top speeds, continuing to scream its lungs out.

Kuwabara came running up the stairs and threw open the door to the guest bedroom. "What's up? Ouch!" Kuwabara put his hands over his ears as well as he heard the bird shriek noisily overhead. "What is that?" he shouted.

Hiei jumped on top of the bed and extended his arm to grab the bird. His fist closed around the beak on the obnoxious animal, and the room became quiet again.

"What is that?" Kuwabara repeated, pointing at the bird in Hiei's fist.

"It's a bird, baka," Hiei replied as the animal tried to screech again.

"It's ugly."

"Ugly like you," Hiei said coolly.

"Why you—!" Kuwabara yelled, grabbing Hiei by the front of his shirt and pulling him off the bed. Hiei made a disgusted face and was about to tell him to let go, when the bird in Hiei's hand wriggled out of his grip and bit Kuwabara's hand hard with its sharp beak. "Yoowww!" Kuwabara shouted, dropping Hiei and nursing his hand.

Hiei straightened his cape and dusted himself off, smirking at Kuwabara and the bird, who didn't stop at just biting Kuwabara. It kept going, pecking at his face and his arms and chirping madly. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Kuwabara screamed, trying to swat the bird away. Hiei watched the bird mutilate Kuwabara with amusement.

After a few minutes of the bird beating on Kuwabara, Hiei pulled it out of the air and held it in his hands, saying, "I think I like this bird. I'm going to name it Killer."

"You're going to name that evil little fuzzball?" Kuwabara shouted. "That thing nearly killed me!"

"You're over-reacting, fool," said Hiei brusquely.

"I hate that bird," Kuwabara said bitterly, crossing his arms and pouting.

The bird, Killer, then squirmed out of Hiei's grip and began pecking at Kuwabara again, almost as if it knew what Kuwabara had said. Hiei smirked again as Kuwabara screamed and flew out of the room, Killer screeching angrily at him. Hiei shut the door and turned to Killer flying in midair. "Killer, you and me are going to get along quite well…"

Just then, Hiei saw a strange green glow coming from Killer's neck. "Hn?" Hiei walked closer to the bird, eyes transfixed by the neon glowing. It was bright, but it was such a small amount of the bird that was glowing that it was almost unnoticeable. Hiei was sure that if he were a human, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. He grabbed Killer and brought him closer to his face, eyes still locked on the light. _What is that…?_

* * *

NEXT TIME – SIGHT OF THE JAGAN – THE BRIEF PRESENCE OF A FRIEND!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	8. Sight of the Jagan

A/N: Wow. This chapter is so short it makes me want to weep pure tears of agony. But please review anyway; I corrected its terrible grammar! Oo

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**8. Sight of the Jagan – The Brief Presence of a Friend**

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Hiei looked closer at the bird, Killer, and his glowing neck. It was strange, the bright neon glow; Hiei wondered what it was. Drawing the bird closer to his face, he concentrated on bringing the neon green light into better focus. He had to squint his eyes so they wouldn't burn from the intense ultraviolet glow, but he still couldn't see clearly what exactly the glow was.

As he tried to peer deeper into the bird, his head suddenly exploded in pain. He released Killer and held his face in his hands. "Damn!" he gasped as he sat down on the bed to let his brief headache pass. It felt like one of those headaches he got from eating too much sweet snow in too short of a time period…

Within a moment the pain subsided, and Hiei, still determined to find out what the light was, grabbed Killer again and peered into it, agin only to be greeted with the same blinding headache.

_I think I'm going to need the Jagan for this… It must be the light that's hurting my eyes and causing that headache,_ he thought, taking his white cloth headband off and tossing it aside once the pain went away. He brought Killer closer to his face once more and this time, used all three eyes to peer into the light in his neck. There was a slight pain in his head from the glow, as usual, but it dulled quickly, thanks to the power of the Jagan. Also with the Jagan, Hiei was able to see deeper into the light…

There were dozens of tiny little white specks floating amid the neon green gel-like light inside of Killer. The specks were barely visible – specks that would surely be _in_visible to a human – and were scrunched together into large clusters, all vying for space like heated molecules in the green light. Hiei pressed his Jagan eye further, trying to figure out once and for all what the dots and the light were, but the pain overwhelmed him; he let go of Killer, massaging his temples to relax the pain.

_There is something there…_ Hiei thought. _Something important. I felt it… _The pain slowly receded, and Hiei brought his head up and glared at Killer as if accusing it of hiding something from him – which, in a sense, it was.

_That feeling… that presence… so tiny, but I_ know _it was there_. _I could feel… the presence… of Kurama…_

_

* * *

_

NEXT TIME – SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED – BLINDED BY THE LIGHT OF LOST SOULS!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	9. Suspicions Confirmed

A/N: Um… new chapter? Please R + R!

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**9. Suspicions Confirmed – Blinded by the Light of Lost Souls

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**

Hiei sat on the bed, his three eyes glaring down at his knees. _I know that was Kurama… I know I could feel his Spirit Energy… But I can't go jumping to conclusions,_ Hiei thought. _I need someone who can sense Spirit Energy better than me…_ Hiei groaned aloud as he continued thinking, _I need Kuwabara…_

_No,_ he told himself resolutely, his normal eyes narrowing. _I will _not _ask that buffon for help. Never._

_But you want to be sure that what you were feeling was Kurama's energy, don't you?_ the evil, tormenting voice in Hiei's head said.

… _Hn…_ was Hiei's reply.

After a few more minutes of contemplating, however, Hiei's curiosity got the best of him, and he walked out of the room grumpily, carrying Killer behind his back. Kuwabara was sitting in the living room of his house, flipping through the fuzzy channels on the broken TV, trying to find a station that worked.

Kuwabara didn't even notice Hiei as he stood right behind him, completely silent. After a few minutes of waiting, Hiei brought Kuwabara from his stupor by smacking him hard across the back of his head.

"What was that for?" Kuwabara shouted, rounding on the fire demon.

"Shut up, baka," Hiei growled, his eyes narrowing again.

"Well, what is it, shrimp-face?"

Hiei glowered, almost choking over his words. "I need your… help."

"What?"

"You heard me, idiot. Or are you deaf?"

"You need… _my_ help?" Kuwabara seemed surprised that _anybody_ - least of all, _Hiei_ - would ever need his help. Then something in his brain clicked, and his shocked expression turned into a rather ugly smirk. "Well, Hiei, if you want my help, it's gonna cost ya…"

Hiei closed his eyes in frustration and said, "I don't have time for your games, baka, just shut up and do me this one favor." When Hiei's eyes reopened, Kuwabara saw a rather unfamiliar emotion conveyed within them. Sure, there was his standard, "piss off!" glare, but there was also a tiny hint of anxiety and worry – something almost nobody had ever seen in his eyes before.

Kuwabara didn't really like Hiei's strange expression, so he decided to be quiet and do what Hiei asked. _But if it turns out he's telling me to stand on my head and lick jelly from the ceiling, he's gonna get it!_

"Here," Hiei held out Killer, the pufferfish-like bird, to Kuwabara, who backed away from it. "Look into it and tell me if you see anything."

"Oh, no! Now way am I getting close to that thing!" Kuwabara said, waving his hands out in front of him. "No way!"

"Just do it!" Hiei snarled, thrusting the bird into Kuwabara's hands. Killer nipped at Kuwabara's fingers, but he didn't bite his hand off. "Your sixth sense is… above average… and I need you to tell me if you can sense anything odd in there." Hiei continued to frown at himself for stooping so low.

"Okay…" Kuwabara grabbed Killer and squinted into the green light coming from his neck. He could see the green neon and the blinding white specks within the body of Killer. The pain from the ultraviolet light hit Kuwabara fast and hard, but he tried to hold it off, staring deeper into the bird's enigmatic depths. _I…_ can… _feel something…_ Kuwabara thought, but he wasn't able to say anything before he passed out from the excruciating headache.

* * *

A few moments later, Kuwabara came to, and Hiei immediately asked him, "Did you feel anything?"

"Yeah…" Kuwabara said, his head still pounding from the piercing headache the light had caused. "Yeah… the little dots in there… they're… they're _souls_, Hiei…"

Hiei's eyes widened a bit. "Souls?"

"Yeah… every person on Earth has their soul trapped inside the little furball…"

"That's where everybody went!" Hiei gasped.

"Yeah… and… Hiei…" A little angry vein popped out in Kuwabara's forehead…

"What?"

"YOUR DAMNED BIRD MADE ME BLIND!"

* * *

NEXT TIME – THE SEARCH BEGINS – A STROKE OF LUCK FOR THE ANTAGONISTS!

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--crazykitsune17--


	10. The Search Begins

A/N: Short chapter. But perhaps you're used to that by now. -- Please review!

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**10. The Search Begins – A Stroke of Luck for the Antagonists

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**Jiusenki, Koto, and Reishi (both apprentices now conscious) had left the dragon demon's underground fortress in Makai and were now prowling around the barren Human World. When Koto had come to, Jiusenki had asked her if she had at least put tracking devices on Hiei and Kuwabara. She hadn't, and that caused an uproar… Jiusenki was not happy, to say the least…

* * *

"_You have the fire demon and the redhead tagged, at least, don't you?" Jiusenki had asked Koto._

"_Huh?"_

"_Tagged – put tracking devices on them."_

"_Uh… no… Was I supposed to?"_

"_IT'S COMMON KNOWLEDGE, KOTO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THEM TAGGED!"_

"_I'm sorry, sir!"

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_

With no other choice, the villains had ventured into the Ningenkai to search for the only two men left on earth. One would think that the two would be easy to spot as they were the only ones left, but quite to the contrary, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Though there were no people, planet Earth was relatively huge. They could be anywhere!

Reishi was walking behind Jiusenki and Koto, a small, pentagonal-shaped device held in her hands. The device seemed to be something like a radar system, and Reishi was studying it intently. The other two ahead of her didn't seem to notice that she was staring at the object that could help them.

"This way," Reishi said after a while, pointing north in direction.

"What?"

"We should go this way."

"Why?" asked Jiusenki impatiently. "Did_ you_ put tracking devices on them?"

"Not Kuwabara and Hiei, no," Reishi said. "But I did attack a miniature tracking system on the soul-carrier."

"How's that gonna help us find the fire demon and the redhead?" Jiusenki growled

"It may not help us find them, exactly," Reishi explained patiently, "but at least we can get the soul-carrier back once we pinpoint its location."

"Oh, good idea, Reishi!" crowed Koto.

Reishi led the two through the streets of the Tokyo suburbs, following the radar tracking device and pointing out directions occasionally. They were starting to get closer and closer to the little bird… Finally, after several hours of walking ("Are we there yet?" Koto complained. "I'm tired… and hungry…"), Reishi's tracking device started beeping – they had found the soul-carrier.

"It is here," Reishi said, pointing at a half-demolished house ahead of them – Kuwabara's house. "Let's go in and find it."

"Right!"

Jiusenki kicked down the door to the front of the house and tramped inside with a mighty roar. Koto and Reishi followed, and Koto gasped when she saw who was inside – the wanted men: Kuwabara and Hiei.

"Well, well, what luck," Reishi said unemotionally. "It seems we have found all of our targets all in one spot…"

"Wha? Huh? Who's there?" Kuwabara shouted, waving his hands about blindly, nearly smacking Hiei in the face. "Who is it?"

The tall dragon demon broke out into a devilish grin. "Hello. I am Jiusenki, and I have an offer to make you two…"

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NEXT TIME – KILL OR BE KILLED!

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**Reviewer Responses!

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**

**Jessica** – Hey, you said something other than your usual 8 words. :) You'll just have to see what happens to Killer. And Hiei and Kuwabara, for that matter… Thanks for the review!

**Izandria Johnson** – Thanks. That was one of my personal favorite chapters as well. ;) Thanks very much for the review!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	11. Jiusenki's Plan

A/N: I knew there was something wrong with last time's chapter preview… I messed up on it. I'm so sorry! I really ought to go over more than one chapter at a time… Anyway, please review!

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**11. Jiusenki's Plan – Kill or Be Killed

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**

"What kind of offer?" asked Hiei, his hand stealthily sliding to the hilt of his katana.

Jiusenki noticed Hiei's hand slip to his sword and smiled a bit. "You probably realize the world is gone," he said, addressing the two as if they were naïve fools.

Hiei was not amused by Jiusenki's obvious statement. "I'm not blind," he replied edgily.

"That makes one of us!" Kuwabara added grumpily. He was still blinded by Killer's bright, blinding white soul-lights, and he was still angry about it.

"Yes, I can see that," Jiusenki said, then continued, "Anyway, as you may have noticed, everybody's souls are captured inside that little bird you hold in your hand." He nodded at Killer, whom Hiei was holding with his free hand that wasn't on his sword. "A soul is what a human needs to live, without it, they are nothing. This bird is basically the only thing that is keeping all the humans truly alive. They are not dead yet."

"Then there's hope for the world!" Kuwabara shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Hiei was relieved as well – he just wasn't as vocal about it.

"Now, I could just kill this bird right here," Jiusenki said musingly, stroking his chin with his large, scaly hand, "and everybody on Earth would truly be dead. But then, I wouldn't be able to play my trump card…"

"Trump card?" asked Kuwabara.

"What is it?" snapped Hiei.

"I'm glad you asked," Jiusenki said, his lips curving into an ugly, sinister smile. "I will be needing your help—"

"_Us_? Help _you_! No way! You're evil!" Kuwabara shrieked, flailing his arms wildly about to express his rage.

"Note, I didn't mean 'your' in the plural sense," Jiusenki said, again with the tone of one explaining obvious things to naïve fools. "When I said 'your', I meant _Hiei_."

Hiei's eyes narrowed, and his left eyebrow shot up.

"What? You mean I'm not invited to help! Oh, gee, thanks, that really makes me feel loved…" Kuwabara mumbled.

"I thought just a second ago you didn't _want_ to help," Hiei spat. "Make up your mind!"

"Truth is, Orange-Haired One With Low IQ," Jiusenki said, "I don't really need your help. Who I really wanted was Hiei, the fire demon, and Kurama, but thanks to a… miscommunication…" He glared harshly at Koto, who recoiled in embarrassment and shame. "… things didn't work out, and we got stuck with this fool instead." He jerked his thumb rudely at Kuwabara.

Hiei's eyes narrowed again and a low growl leapt out from his throat. _He means to say that thanks to a mistake from the fox-girl, I could've been stuck with Kurama instead of The Idiot! At least I can stand Kurama! _"Could you get to your point?" Hiei asked Jiusenki, impatience and anger laced in his voice.

Jiusenki smiled again. "I need your help in destroying Spirit World."

"WHAAAAT?" Kuwabara yelled, standing up and toppling over in the process. "Destroy Spirit World! Are you crazy? You-you can't do that! You can't destroy Spirit World! You are sick! Sick and evil and crazy, you freak of nature! You should die! I can't believe you would even _think_ of destroying Spirit World, you monster!"

"Shut up!" Hiei snapped at the gibbering Kuwabara on the floor. He then turned back to Jiusenki, question – and even a little bit of intrigue – in his large scarlet eyes. "Destroy Spirit World, huh?"

"That's right."

Hiei seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE ACTUALLY THINKING OF AGREEING WITH HIM!" Kuwabara shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

Hiei ignored him. "And what if I don't help you destroy Spirit World?" he asked Jiusenki.

"I will kill that bird you're holding, killing off everybody trapped inside. Every human on Earth will die."

_Hn. Not like I care. I never liked the humans anyway…_ Hiei thought, but he figured he'd better hear what was in it for him if he helped Jiusenki. "And what if I agree to help you?" he asked.

"As your prize for helping me, I will let you choose a few select people to come back to life with you. Then everybody else will be killed."

Hiei cocked his head to one side, weighing the options. The former had only one thing that was beneficial to him – no humans to deal with. _But…_ he thought, remembering his previous loneliness. _Not all of them were bad… not Kurama, and even the Spirit Detective was okay. And Yukina… she had been in the Human World and had her soul sucked into that bird…_ He pondered the latter – helping Jiusenki. If he helped the dragon demon, he could have Yukina, Kurama, and Yusuke come back to life, and not be bothered by anyone else. Plus, with the destruction of Reikai, there would be no Koenma or King Yama to boss him around anymore and force him to help out with the Spirit Detective's assignments.

"What are you thinking about, runt!" Kuwabara demanded. Again, Hiei ignored him, figuring he'd better find out if there was a catch involved and find out all the information he possibly could from this mysterious dragon.

"Why do you want to wipe out the Human World?" Hiei asked.

"Yeah, why does everybody have to die?" Kuwabara added.

"There's not enough room in Makai for everyone," Jiusenki said. "Besides, they would probably all die in seconds anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Hiei asked. _I hate people who are vague…_ he added to himself.

"When Spirit World is gone," Jiusenki went on, "you and the lucky chosen friends will come and live with me in the Makai. If I feel like it, I'll let the lower-class demons run around on planet Earth and Reikai, but the main thing is, I will become ruler of the entire Makai once I wipe out all the humans – every Makai demon's dream!"

Hiei scoffed. "You really think you could become ruler of Makai? Where have you been living the past eternity? There is no real ruler of Makai. You live for yourself. Sure there are kings, but how much do they really control others? You take orders from nobody. You mate, you eat, you die. You live by your own rules. If you truly think you can become ruler of _everybody_, you are indeed a fool."

Jiusenki ignored Hiei's little speech. He would become ruler, no matter what the pessimistic punk said. "That doesn't matter," he said. "You see, all demons will bow to me once I accomplish what they could not – total destruction of the Human and Spirit Worlds!" He finished this proclamation with a loud, sinister guffaw.

"Hey!" Kuwabara interrupted. "Why are you all talking like I'm not here? Don't I have a say in this, too? I say that this dude – whoever he is – is an idiot and can't take over the Human and Spirit Worlds! We have to defend the justice! WE CAN'T LET EVIL TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

"Cool the drama," Reishi said calmly from behind Jiusenki. "We will do away with you properly and make sure your death is quick and painless."

"WHAAAAT? But I don't want to die!"

"Too bad!" Jiusenki snarled. "We don't need you, human. You are too weak."

"Weak! Hey! Do you realize who you're talking to! I am Kazuma Kuwabara the Man, Defender of Justice, and Protector of my World! And I say you can't do this!"

"Be quiet, fool!" Jiusenki commanded, his voice reverberating off the walls and causing a little decorative wall hanging to come tumbling off its hook. "You may have your uses…" he continued ponderingly. "We might keep you alive a while longer."

_Damn…_ thought Hiei.

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NEXT TIME – PLOT OF A BETRAYAL – REISHI'S REVENGE!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	12. Plot of a Betrayal

A/N: More tragic-past-of-OC-ness… Read and review!

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**12. Plot of a Betrayal - Reishi's Revenge

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**

Ignoring Kuwabara's ceaseless protesting and yelling, Hiei had agreed to help Jiusenki and his team in destroying Spirit World. Kuwabara had gone on an angry, screaming rampage when he heard that Hiei had agreed, but he was easily taken care of with a strong punch from the dragon demon.

It was now late at night; Jiusenki, Koto, and Reishi had decided to spend the night with Hiei and Kuwabara at the human boy's house. Hiei had assured them that he would not kill them while they were sleeping ("Why would I kill somebody who is about to do me a favor by killing off the humans?" he said to bolster his point), and Kuwabara would not be going anywhere anytime soon as he was still incapacitated by Jiusenki's strong blow. Reishi had put up a peripheral barrier, though, just in case.

Kuwabara was still locked in the closet, sleeping soundly, making half-conscious snoring noises; Hiei was sleeping on the couch in the living room, sitting up straight and only half-asleep in case he needed to wake up quickly and attack. It had become a habit, even though there was nobody left on Earth to attack him. Jiusenki, Koto, and Reishi were all on the floor, Reishi's barrier protecting them.

It was about half-past one when Reishi awoke. She sat up quietly, careful not to make a sound. Looking around, she could see that everyone else was still asleep. Even Hiei was dozing peacefully on the couch, his chest rising up and down with each breath as he slept soundly. He was still alert, though, so Reishi would have to be extra quiet and careful.

Quietly, she shuffled around Jiusenki's massive body and found Koto, lying on her side, her body curled. Reishi leaned over and gently shook her shoulder, keeping one arm out to cover her mouth in case she screamed.

"Koto..." she whispered. "Koto! Wake up!"

"Uh..." Koto moaned and rolled over.

"Koto!" Reishi hissed. "Koto!"

"Mmm... wha?" Koto opened one eye and stared up at Reishi, her sparkling green eyes piercing through the black of night. "Whas going on, Reishi?" she mumbled, her speech a bit slurred from tiredness.

"Shh," Reishi warned, putting a finger to her lips. "I have to ask you something. Now get up - quietly! - and come with me."

"What...?"

Reishi didn't reply back. She grabbed Koto's arm and pulled her up soundlessly, so as to not wake anyone up. Koto looked confused, and she grabbed the blanket that she had borrowed before following Reishi.

Reishi led Koto out of the living room, past the kitchen, and out into the entryway leading to the back porch. They could see through the window nearby and noticed that it was a dark, starry night. The sky was a brilliant midnight blue color, the stars twinkling like little diamonds. The half-moon shed a small bit of light on the floor as the two girls stood, silhouetted in the moonlight.

"What's up, Reishi?" Koto whispered, stifling a yawn. "It's late."

"I know," Reishi said, pushing back her long, dark hair. "But I need to ask you something."

"Why couldn't you wait until morning...?"

"Idiot!" Reishi hissed. "If I had waited until morning, it wouldn't be a very important question. Now listen up."

"I'm listening..." Koto stifled back another yawn.

Reishi leaned in closer to Koto. Koto could see every sparkle in Reishi's deep emerald eyes, and she could see that she was very serious about this question, whatever it was. "Would you be willing to help me... betray Jiusenki?" Reishi asked.

Koto paused for a minute. It took a while for her brain to process the question, and when it did, she jumped back, momentarily startled. "What?" she said, a little too loudly. Reishi looked back into the living room and saw Jiusenki's ear twitch.

"Shh!" Reishi scolded. "You have to be quiet!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Okay. So, will you help me betray Jiusenki or not?" Reishi asked.

"Uh..." Koto was hesitant. She would surely like to betray him, as he was not very nice to her and even went so far as to hit her into unconsciousness, but what if Jiusenki thwarted their betrayal? They would be punished beyond imagination! _I don't know about Reishi,_ Koto thought ruefully, _but I don't like getting pummeled into the wall by that dragon! _And what about Kuwabara and Hiei...? What if they told...?

Reishi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I have already told you that I am planning to betray Jiusenki," she whispered, her voice serious and almost threatening. "If you do not help me, I risk the chance of having you squeal on me. If you disagree, and I risk that chance, I would have no choice but to kill you for what you know."

Koto was still hesitant. Reishi meant her threat, she knew, but really - _What if they were found out?_

Reishi closed her eyes and sighed. "You would help me betray him if you knew what he did to me... to my family."

Koto's ears perked up. Reishi had never talked about her family before. Koto could tell that Reishi's grudge against the dragon demon was ingrained deep down in her heart. It was a grudge and hatred she held so strong for Jiusenki, that she would not rest until she had gained her revenge.

"My parents and I were never very strong demons. My class is only an E class by Makai standards," Reishi started. "We usually just kept to ourselves, knowing that it was too dangerous to ever venture outside the lands alloted to us. My family and I belong to a psychic class. We are not fighters. We do not have the strength, vitality, or stamina to stand up to any demon. Instead, we rely on our wit, intelligence, and psychic powers to stay alive.

"One day, as our village was just going about peacefully, doing no harm to anybody, a dragon came in and attacked us. He destroyed my whole village, including my parents and younger sister! We, an innocent psychic race, had been cruelly and unjustly vanquished by this rogue dragon demon!

"The odd thing, though, that I remember, is that the dragon who attacked us... had no wings."

Koto gasped. _A dragon with no wings? _she thought to herself. _That must be Jiusenki! He doesn't have any wings, either! _"I'm so sorry about your family!" Koto gushed apologetically to Reishi.

Reishi waved her off, continuing her story. "That dragon had roared on about how hungry it was when it came and rampaged through our village, but never has a dragon ever eaten a humanoid psychic demon before! We are not full of meat, like several of the other demons in Makai, so therefore, no demon ever bothers to kill us for food. But this dragon did, and that is what angers me. Out of all the beasts in Makai, that dragon chose us - innocents! - for food." Reishi's last sentence slipped off her tongue like poison. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and Koto could tell that Reishi was very angry and upset.

"After that day I became a loner. A solitary pyschic, sworn to avenge her family and race! There are hardly any more of my kind left in the Makai, and unless I get my revenge, our name will be shamed! We will be known as weaker than before, and in the Makai, nobody wants to be weak. Only the strong survive, so I must be strong to defend what's left of us!"

Reishi's speech was reaching its climax, her face vivid with rage and her voice reaching a crescendo. Koto was enraptured by the psychic demon's tragic tale, and she found herself holding her breath. _Where does her apprenticeship to Jiusenki fall into this...?_ she wondered.

It was as if Reishi had read her mind. "Several years later, I happened to stumble into a lone dragon demon. It's unusual to see a dragon by itself, as it is usually with a group, so I was interested. I decided to spy on him, see what he was doing.

"He was training for something. Building up reiki blasts as big as this house, smashing craters into the dirt, making the ground tremble with his mighty roar. But the main thing that got my attention from the demon was that _he had no wings..._

"This, I knew, was the dragon that had slain my people! Slain my mother, my father, and my sister... This was the demon I had been looking for all my life! It was finally time for me to get my revenge... But how? I wasn't strong enough to fight this gargantuan, powerful dragon demon!

"That was when the dragon noticed that I had been watching him. He walked over to me, introduced himself as Jiusenki, then did something so surprising that I thought he was joking. _He asked me to help him._ I agreed, wondering what he was up to. I wasn't sure why I agreed at first, but now, I think of it as a blessing that I did.

"So, for years, Jiusenki and I fine-tuned his plot to wipe out the Human and Spirit Worlds. I was to be the brains behind his plan, as my class was especially skilled in the areas of technology and strategy, he the brawn. Finally, it was time to put our plan into action. Then you came along to help with the plan, to put the final touches on it. You were the one that knew Hiei and Kurama personally, as I had never met them, so it was your duty to track them down for us."

"But I messed up..." Koto said, her fox ears drooping a bit.

"That's actually good," Reishi replied. "Your blunder makes Jiusenki angry, and that's what I want. I want him to get a taste of his own medicine! See how _he _likes it when all of his plans go wrong as mine did. I planned to become one of the top psychics, but there's no way I can do that anymore without the proper training. Jiusenki had killed and eaten all of our elite pyschics, and now hope is nearly lost for my class!"

Reishi paused for a second, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. It had felt good to release all of this inner anger and pain to somebody, and now that she had planned out her revenge, all she had to do was gain an accomplice. With one last deep breath, Reishi asked Koto the same question again. "So, Koto... will you help me?"

Koto hesitated for a moment, then let Reishi's story re-sink in her head. She had made up her mind. "Yes. I will help you."

* * *

NEXT TIME - INTO THE SPIRIT WORLD - STRATEGY BEFORE ASSAULT!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	13. Into the Spirit World

A/N: Nothing to say. Read and review!

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**13. Into the Spirit World – Strategy Before Assault

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**

Finally, it was morning, and the ragtag team of demons and Kuwabara awoke to begin their assault on Spirit World. Kuwabara was still upset and was grumbling loudly and obnoxiously while the group ate breakfast. Eventually, Reishi and Koto whacked him over the head with a randomly-placed crowbar, and that shut him up.

All through the morning, Jiusenki boasted about how brilliant his plot to take over the three worlds was and how great it was that everything was going to plan. Koto and Reishi acted as if nothing had happened between them last night. There was no hint of a plotted betrayal between them, and Jiusenki ate up their vigorous nods and servile responses of, "Yes, you're brilliant, Jiusenki!" without question.

Only Hiei could sense that something was up between them. He could see, even without his Jagan, that the two girls were anxious and tense about something. They put up a good façade, but Hiei wasn't fooled. He didn't question them, though, as whatever they had planned would reveal itself in good time – not to mention Hiei didn't care, either…

"All right, time's a-wasting," Jiusenki barked suddenly midway through the morning. "Let's get going to Spirit World…"

Reishi conjured the portal to Reikai, while Koto and Jiusenki dragged Kuwabara into the living room where the portal was being summoned. Everything was ready now… _It's finally time for me to become ruler of Makai!_ thought Jiusenki happily, a large grin failing to keep itself from spreading across his ugly visage.

The group stepped into the portal, one by one, into Reikai. The group breathed in the peaceful atmosphere of the Spirit World, watching as all of Koenma and King Yama's servants and ogre slaves bustled around, carrying papers, tripping over their own large feet, flying through the air on oars. The air was thick with the scent of cherry blossoms, and pink clouds overhead floated by lazily, giving the team of five a welcome invitation – an invitation to destroy.

Hiei walked slowly away from the rest of the group, hands shoved in his pockets, and stalked over to a large rock formation. "Hey! Where you goin'?" Koto asked, whipping herself around.

"Yeah! Get back here!" Jiusenki growled. "You're supposed to be helping us!"

"Hn. I don't want to be seen and arrested when I just got here. If you were smart, you'd stay out of the open too," Hiei replied, making himself invisible to passersby as he stood behind the giant rock.

"Oh… right!" Koto said, and she pranced over to Hiei, Reishi and Jiusenki (who had Kuwabara slung over his shoulder like a rag doll) following close behind.

"All right, let's begin our battle attack," Jiusenki whispered, bringing his head in for a group huddle.

"No, wait," said Reishi, choosing her words carefully. She couldn't leave any hints that she was planning a betrayal behind her master's back, so she had to speak with caution. "I don't think we should start our attack just yet…"

"What? We're here, aren't we?" Jiusenki hissed, his face flushed red with agitation. "Why not?"

"I just don't think it's a smart idea to attack in broad daylight, that's all," Reishi replied calmly. "Perhaps we should wait until early tomorrow morning? Nobody would suspect anything at the crack of dawn."

"Hm… I guess you're right," Jiusenki mused, stroking his chin with his giant fingers. "But we could've done that today if _some people_ didn't take so long to make breakfast!" He glared at Koto.

"What? I like scrambled eggs, so what!" Koto argued indignantly, putting her hands on her hips. "It's not my fault that _you_ got up so late!"

"Children, please," Reishi said sarcastically, putting up her hands to stop the argument. Jiusenki and Koto stopped, both sporting classic anger veins in their temples. "Thank you," the psychic continued. "Now, I think we should scope out the area today to give us an idea of what we're up against—"

"Not much…" muttered Jiusenki.

"Right," said Reishi, frowning. "I still think we should check it out just in case. But we must be careful not to be seen! That is vital to our mission." _I must make this sound convincing…_ Reishi was doing such a good job covering up her plot of betrayal that Koto was even giving her a confused look as to ask if Reishi was still planning it. Reishi gave her a quick, reassuring, sideways glance, however, and she knew that the plan was still on.

"Good thinking, Reishi," Jiusenki said brusquely. "We'll meet back here tonight to discuss our strategy for Reikai's annihilation. Let's split up into groups and scope out the area. Report anything when we meet back here tonight at…" Jiusenki checked his watch. "Nine o'clock. Koto, Kuwabara, and I will take the northern and eastern parts of Reikai; Hiei, Reishi, and the soul-carrier will take the south and western parts." Jiusenki handed Killer to Reishi, who gave it to Hiei, since he seemed to like the obnoxious little fluffball so much. "All right, move out!"

The groups set off in different directions, scoping out the area. Reishi wasn't taking in any of the scenery and danger-spots of Reikai. She was too busy thinking about her betrayal… Hiei could sense her thinking deeply and not concentrating on their task to scope out the area, but, as usual, he said nothing. _Why should I care what that girl is thinking?_ He held Killer in the crook of his left arm and stroked its head with his two fingers and thought, _Finally. The end of the world is truly coming… I can hardly wait…

* * *

_

It was past nine o'clock now, and the group had finished discussing their battle strategy. Jiusenki had come up with some odd "We blow up the main building, then set everybody under our mind control to kill each other" kind of tactic that everybody except Jiusenki thought was absolutely foolish. Hiei wasn't about to argue with it, however. He planned to destroy Reikai in his own way, no matter what. He wasn't going to take orders from some half-wit dragon! Kuwabara wasn't about to complain, as he didn't fully understand his plan to begin with, and neither Koto or Reishi complained, since they were about to betray Jiusenki anyway.

But the teams had retreated to bed in tents that they had pitched – Koto, Reishi, and Jiusenki in one tent, and Kuwabara, Hiei, and Killer in another. Jiusenki, Reishi, and Koto had let the two of them have Killer for the night. "They are never going to crack the soul-releasing code I have on him, anyway," Reishi had assured them.

Kuwabara was holding Killer, trying not to get pecked to death and trying to break the soul-releasing code on him. He wasn't getting very far, as the bird kept trying to scratch his eyes out and bite his fingers off. Hiei let him do it though; it was amusing, and being bored was not something Hiei was fond of, so he decided to just watch the human get riddled full of holes from the soul-carrying bird.

"Ugh! Stupid – augh! – bird!" Kuwabara shouted, shaking Killer up and down only to receive an angry shriek and bite in return. "All right! All right! I give up!" Kuwabara tossed Killer across the room, where Hiei caught it and began absentmindedly petting it. Killer made a little purring noise as Hiei gently stroked it, giving Kuwabara the evil eye that made him cross his arms and snort indignantly.

"Don't know why that dumb bird likes you so much!" Kuwabara scowled. "Usually animals don't go for evil, short, psycho freak-demons who agree to destroy the Human and Spirit Worlds!"

"Yes, well, maybe Killer just doesn't like ugly people," Hiei replied calmly. "Not ugly, stupid, weakling humans with less brains than an amoeba."

"What? Why I oughta!" Kuwabara got his traditional ugly "how dare you!" look on his face and shoved his fist in Hiei's face. "I'm about this close to knockin' the brains outta you, so you'd better shut up before I kill you, you little runt!"

"As if you could kill me… Just the thought of that makes me want to laugh."

"Then laugh, why don't you!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Hn. Shut up, baka…" Their game was getting un-amusing now. Hiei gave him a warning glare, and Kuwabara shut up. Hiei exhaled loudly and went back to petting Killer, leaving Kuwabara to sulk against the canvas.

A few minutes later, there was a rustling of the flap on their tent. "Hey! Wh-who's there?" Kuwabara hissed. "Get outta here!"

"Shh! It's me!" It was Reishi. Kuwabara blinked stupidly, and Reishi let herself in, sitting on her knees in front of Hiei and Kuwabara. "Be quiet, and listen carefully. I have something important I have to tell you."

Hiei raised an eyebrow. _This must be what was bothering her all day…_ he thought.

"I have been planning a betrayal on Jiusenki," Reishi started.

"A betrayal?" Kuwabara questioned. "You mean you're going to go against Jiusenki?"

"That's what 'betrayal' means," Hiei interrupted curtly.

"You shut up, punk!"

Reishi quickly informed them on her plan. Koto had entered the main Reikai building to give Koenma the heads-up on what was going on. Kuwabara and Hiei agreed to help them betray the dragon.

"The world doesn't deserve to end like this!" Kuwabara stated nobly, striking a "save the world" pose. "Jiusenki needs to be brought down! I'll help you for sure!"

"Hn… Well, I liked the idea of no humans on Earth," Hiei said, "but I don't like Jiusenki that much, and I don't approve of him becoming the so-called 'ruler of Makai'. I guess I will 'help' you."

"Good," Reishi said. "We are going to begin the act at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Now get to sleep!" Reishi exited through the tent flap, leaving Hiei and Kuwabara alone in the darkness.

"Well, I guess everything will turn out okay!" Kuwabara said, grinning.

"Shut up. Just because things are looking up for the humans for once doesn't mean I'm in a good mood, so leave me alone if you know what's good for you." Hiei laid down on his blanket and turned away from Kuwabara to show that he didn't want to talk anymore. Killer snapped his beak ferociously at Kuwabara, then curled up beside Hiei and fell asleep.

"Hmph. For saving the world, he doesn't sound to happy…"

* * *

NEXT TIME – RELEASE AND BETRAYAL – FINAL ATTACK!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	14. Release and Betrayal

A/N: I wish to bash my head against hard, blunt objects…

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**14. Release and Betrayal – Final Attack

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**

"Psst!" a voice from the shadows whispered.

Hiei's eyes shot open and greeted the pale mint morning light. Reishi was kneeling in the open tent flap, waking Kuwabara and Hiei up for the betrayal. Hiei shuffled in his thin blanket, waking up Killer in the process. Reishi leaned over and poked Kuwabara hard in the nose to get him up.

"Don't… eat that pizza, sis… It's my… chocolate fudge sundae… gonna kill that Urameshi…" Kuwabara sleep-moaned, turning over on his blanket and snoring. Hiei and Reishi rolled their eyes, and Reishi poked Kuwabara again.

Kuwabara finally sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking very sleepy. "Unh… it's too early…" he whined.

"Be quiet!" Reishi commanded sharply. "It's time…"

"Huh? Time for what? Breakfast?" Kuwabara asked, bewildered.

Reishi ignored Kuwabara's question and motioned for Hiei to give Killer the soul-carrier to her. Hiei obliged, handing her the little fuzzball. Killer didn't try to bite off Reishi's fingers (Kuwabara pointed this out) as she stroked him gently to calm him down. Killer was at last content, and he purred a very bird-like purr. Kuwabara crossed his arms indignantly, complaining that Killer never purred for him.

"Okay… it's time…" Reishi whispered.

Hiei and Kuwabara watched Reishi with intrigue as her nimble fingers quickly tapped in a long and difficult code into a tiny microchip placed in Killer's neck. The two were amazed at Reishi's skill of punching in the code so precisely on such a small device – even Hiei hadn't noticed the little chip on Killer! After a moment's wait, Reishi had finished the code, and for a moment, nothing happened.

Then Killer began to glow. He was surrounded by an interesting neon green color, suspending in midair by the power of the glow. He looked just as he did when Koto had first found him – floating in the neon gel-like substance in a cylindrical cage. Hiei and Kuwabara's eyes were locked on the bird; the end of the world was coming to an end… for Jiusenki's plan was being thwarted at that very moment.

Killer started to expand. His body grew steadily larger and larger, blowing up like a balloon. He was now as big as Hiei's head – including the hair – and glowing even more brightly than ever before. He was ready to let the souls escape…

A light wind began to blow, encircling Killer like a cyclone. Millions of tiny white specs flew out from Killer's body. They were hardly visible; only Hiei's Jagan was able to see most of them. To Kuwabara and Reishi, the souls were just a white blur rushing past them. The souls of the entire Ningenkai were being released back to Earth, their fragile spirits returning to their bodies which had now reappeared where they had been left back on Earth.

Their betrayal was going smoothly. Reishi smirked with satisfaction as the last of the souls whizzed out of Killer. Kuwabara was doing an odd sort of victory dance, hitting his fist against the ceiling of the tent, and Hiei was doing nothing, sitting perfectly still.

Then Jiusenki burst in. He tore the tent away, leaving the four of them out in the open (Koto had spent the night in Reikai's main building to lead Koenma and his army out to their hideout). His face was livid with rage, the normally sickly lavender color of his face now a deep, disgusting maroon. His massive muscles bulged dangerously, and if he were a teakettle, he would be steaming and whistling worse than Bob Knight.

"_What are you doing?"_ Jiusenki yelled, his words jerky and furious.

"We're doing exactly what it looks like we're doing," Reishi answered much more calmly than she felt. She was terrified of the huge, malicious dragon demon with anger problems, but she would not let Jiusenki push her around anymore! She would finally get her revenge! "We have set the souls free."

"And your plan has failed," said a voice behind the dragon. Jiusenki turned around and found himself face-to-face with the teenaged Koenma, followed by Koto. Koenma glared at the dragon demon and continued, "Koto informed us all about your little plan, Jiusenki, and I must say, very clever. You see, you picked a very good time to attempt all of this, as we were swamped with paperwork left over from the Dark Tournament and didn't notice all that was going on in the Ningenkai. But now your plan has been foiled! You won't become ruler of _any_ world now!"

"Rrrawr!" Jiusenki growled, angrier than Koto or Reishi had ever seen the testy dragon youkai. "You may have foiled my plan, but I'll become ruler of Makai! Just you… wait… and… see!" With a final angry move, Jiusenki had quickly slipped his hand in and out of his pocket, and pulled out something shiny and lethal… a revolver.

Before anybody could stop the mad dragon demon, Jiusenki fired three shots from the revolver in a pitiful attempt for revenge. The bullets traveled so fast and there was so little reaction time; no one could dodge. The three expertly-aimed bullets had pierced someone right in the heart.

* * *

NEXT TIME – RETURN OF THE SPIRIT DETECTIVE – TIMELY ARRIVAL AND UNTIMELY DEATH!

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A/N: I should probably note that this story takes place before I knew about the Sensui saga. Also, this fic doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. Why in the hell would a demon such as Jiusenki use a human weapon anyway? Oh well. Enjoy the cliffie and please review me!

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--crazykitsune17--


	15. Return of the Spirit Detective

A/N: Read. Review.

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**15. Return of the Spirit Detective – Timely Arrival and Untimely Death

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**

The blood spurted out from Hiei's chest like a fountain as Jiusenki's three bullets pierced his heart with impeccably precise accuracy. Those three shots were incredibly lethal, and before he even hit the ground, the famous fire demon was dead.

The rest of the group barely had time to register his death as two familiar faces popped up in Spirit World after being returned to their bodies in the Ningenkai. Kuwabara, Koto, and Reishi all turned around to see the angered face of Yusuke Urameshi and the surprised, shocked face of Botan, the grim reaper.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara cried out with happiness as he saw his friend appear to save the day.

"Yeah," Yusuke replied brusquely. "It's me. And boy, was being trapped inside that _stupid_ bird thing _really_ lame!" Yusuke pounded his right fist into his left hand and glared at the group. "Now which bozo is responsible for all this crap?"

"That would be the dragon demon, Jiusenki," Reishi told him, standing up.

Yusuke turned and focused his angry glare at Jiusenki, who responded with a loud, tormented cry:

"Rrrrawl! I had this plan perfect!" Jiusenki roared. "I was going to take over this worthless barren_ wasteland_ you call 'Spirit World' and turn it into a new Makai! I was going to become _ruler_ of it all! I was going to _kill_ all the humans and Spirit World apparitions! I was going to get my _revenge_ on the royal family!"

_Revenge on the royal family?_ Reishi and Koto thought, puzzled. Jiusenki had never told them about his grudge against King Yama and Prince Koenma, and the two ex-apprentices were confused. _What does he mean?_

Clearly, Koenma was puzzled, too. "Revenge on the royal family?" he questioned. "Why would you want that? We have done nothing to you!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Jiusenki snarled, rage burning in his golden-bronze eyes. Spit flew from his mouth as he continued roaring: "Your father, King Yama, had sent a bunch of bloody spirit hunters to come and _slaughter_ my family!" _And the love of my life…_ the dragon demon thought with a sharp pang of agony.

Koenma paused for a moment. Making a confused face, he could only reply with, "Huh?"

"You should know!" Jiusenki shouted. "You were probably behind it too, you little snot-nosed… rr… _toddler_!"

Yusuke chuckled approvingly. "Finally, I meet a villain with as much disrespect for old pacifier breath as me…"

"That's not something to be laughing about!" Botan reprimanded sternly.

"My father and I did no such thing," Koenma stated quietly.

"Liar!" Jiusenki growled. "There were just the two of them – two dumb, brainless, killing_ idiots _sent from Spirit World to exterminate my entire clan!"

"That doesn't matter!" Yusuke yelled. "This conversation is stupid and has gone on long enough! It's time to take you down, ugly dragon-thing!"

"I don't think so—" Jiusenki screeched, but he was unable to threaten the group any more or even try any attacks before he was engulfed by a massive wave of energy – Yusuke's Spirit Gun.

All during Jiusenki and Koenma's exchange of dialogue, Yusuke had been preparing his attack to take down the dragon that had killed Hiei. He had kept his Reiki hidden from everyone else, and at the last minute, whipped out his trusty Spirit Gun, polishing off the rogue, spiteful dragon.

Jiusenki was virtually ripped to shreds by Yusuke's reiki blast. Bits of his skin and clothing flew off, disintegrated into dust, and his body was bowled over with the explosion's force. Blood escaped from the innumerable lacerations on his thick, purple skin, flying into the air and decorating the soft, pastel landscape of Reikai. Yusuke was seething with anger as the dragon was killed instantly. To him, this was barely the revenge he wanted; Jiusenki deserved a much more painful death for killing Hiei!

"I never…" Koenma whispered, still in shock of Jiusenki's accusation of his father sending Spirit Hunters to kill his family. "We would never do that to a sect of demons that did nothing wrong!" Suddenly, memories came flooding into his memory… He remember passing by Spirit World's prison and seeing two bony, gaunt, human prisoners. King Yama had told him that they were Spirit Hunters who had escaped into Makai and killed a large band of dragon demons for no particular reason and then put the blame on him, saying that King Yama had ordered them to slaughter the demons.

_Jiusenki was wrong… we were framed_… Koenma thought, finding himself unable to tell the deceased dragon. Instead, he closed his eyes and sniffed derisively. _I will not allow his spirit to rest in peace and give him this knowledge. He shall spend all his life in purgatory, wondering, wondering…_

"You made me really mad, Jiusenki!" Yusuke shouted, kicking the dragon's head violently, causing blood to spew out of his pale corpse and splatter onto his shoes and jeans. "Killing Hiei like that… heartless bastard…" Yusuke's voice cracked. A glimmer of a tear sprang to Yusuke's eye…

Botan was sobbing, and Koto, Reishi, and Koenma were all just in shock. They had to deal with Jiusenki, but now he was dead and full attention was turned toward Hiei. His eyes were open, misted over with the glaze of death, his pupils contracting into nothingness as he sank lower than six feet under. Blood seeped through the black fabric of his clothing and coated the ground with its sticky, hot liquid. Hiei's skin was cold to the touch; death was claiming him quickly. Botan knelt down and held Hiei's hand, tears streaming down her face.

"Please… don't be dead… You can't be dead!" she choked, even though deep in her mind she knew that Hiei was long gone. He would never be coming back.

"Stupid Hiei!" Yusuke yelled, his eyes bright with anger again. "Why did you have to die! You… stupid… jerk… Why?"

A/N: I don't think Hiei would die this easily, but what the hell. It's a fanfic. Enjoy; review.

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NEXT TIME – BACK FROM THE DEAD – KURAMA'S SACRIFICE!

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--crazykitsune17-- 


	16. Back from the Dead

A/N: Holy cow, this is effing short… Oh well. Please read, enjoy, and review! Second-to-last chapter here!

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**16. Back From the Dead – Kurama's Sacrifice

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**

Reishi knelt down next to Hiei, bowing her head in respect. Her eyes were closed, and she mumbled a quick, mournful prayer for the dead fire demon. Koto did the same, followed by Koenma. Kuwabara was hesitant to show his respects for Hiei, but the cold glare Yusuke gave him was enough to make him get down on his knees and mutter a few nice words.

"You were mean to me, but I guess I'll miss you. Have a good afterlife."

"Hiei…" Botan sobbed, tears sliding down her cheeks. She was at a loss for words. She had seen Yusuke die before – it seemed so long ago! – but this was different. Yusuke was able to come back to life. Hiei would not have that luxury…

Hiei would be dead forever, killed so ruthlessly by a demon bent on world domination. Jiusenki had murdered him dishonorably – not even a real fight! This was certainly not the way Hiei would have wanted to go down. But unfortunately, time could not go back, and Hiei's life could not be spared.

Just then, a white light whizzed by and absorbed itself into Hiei's body. The light was barely visible, but it left a blinding, silver streak in midair; that was how the group was able to see it. Hiei's body began to glow and shimmer. The color was coming back to his skin, and Hiei's chest rose, his lungs filling with air once more. Botan gasped and put a hand to Hiei's wrist; there was a pulse. Hiei was alive!

"Whoa, what's going on?" Kuwabara shouted, jumping back, a frightened expression on his face.

"Is he…?" Koto started, too shocked to finish her sentence.

Hiei's lips parted, allowing the air to come in and out. He was breathing normally and living, but the question remained – why? What happened? Was Hiei never really dead…?

No, he was surely dead. They had seen him die – Botan, Koenma, Yusuke, Koto, Reishi, and Kuwabara… But… what happened?

"Woah, I just sensed Kurama's Spirit Energy!" Kuwabara blurted out suddenly. "It was left behind from that freaky light flash thing!"

This statement caught everyone by surprise. Yusuke, Botan, and Koenma all looked around frantically, searching for the fox demon. In all of the chaos of defeating Jiusenki and Hiei dying, nobody had even noticed that Kurama was not present.

"Where is he? Where'd he go?" Yusuke asked, twisting his head around. "I can't see him!"

There was a loud whistling noise, and the group then all turned their attention towards Killer, the soul-carrying bird. Killer didn't look very well; his flesh was pale and he looked wilted, like a rose that had been left without water for too long. His eyes had lost their luster; they were nothing but grey spheres now. Kuwabara then gasped, for this was where Kurama's Spirit Energy was coming from!

"It's there!" he yelled, pointing at Killer. With one final, tragic wail, Killer then evaporated into dust, the single soul inside of it finally gone. "That's… Kurama…" His voice fell out like a plug being pulled on a drain.

Kuwabara was right. The single soul that had still been trapped inside of Killer was, indeed, Kurama's. The miniscule white, flickering dot of Kurama's soul then dissolved into thin air, and Kurama's body replaced it, sprawled on the ground of Reikai. His skin was paler than usual, his long crimson hair splayed all over in a haphazard pattern. He looked like he had just been spit out of blowhole of a whale.

"Kurama!" Yusuke exclaimed, rushing over to him.

Kurama lifted his head weakly, his hair falling limply into his face. He looked so tired and ill, unnaturally pale and fragile. The fox demon looked past Yusuke and saw Hiei, breathing steadily, alive, and he smiled.

"So… it worked…" he whispered, satisfied. He then let his face fall forward as he slipped in a comatose stupor.

"What…?" asked Yusuke, cocking his head to one side in confusion.

"Yeah, what was that all about? What did he mean 'it worked'?" Kuwabara asked, equally confused.

"I get it," Koenma whispered, smoothing back his hair with a sauve motion of his hand.

"What is it, Koenma?" Botan asked.

"Kurama stayed behind in the soul-carrier," Koenma explained, "once he figured out that Hiei was dead. He then transferred some of his own Life Energy into Hiei – that was the white flash we saw."

"You mean like how I transferred energy to Yusuke in that tournament thingy at Master Genkai's?" Kuwabara interrupted.

"Yeah, like that," Koenma affirmed. "However, he used so much of his own life energy to bring Hiei back, and now he is almost completely drained. He may even… die."

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NEXT TIME – FINAL CELEBRATION – A TRUE HAPPY ENDING!

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--crazykitsune17--


	17. Final Celebration

A/N: Woo, final chapter, yay! First off, I wanna say THANK YOU to all the folks who reviewed – you guys are great! And second, I wanna show you a little picture I drew to go with this story. Let's hope the link works… It's a picture of Reishi. The head is too big and the shading is funky, but it's still okay. Give you something to look at anyways… Please review! Substitute the crap in parentheses as the proper punctuation marks, and don't keep the spaces.

http (colon) (backslash) (backslash) tinypic (dot) com (slash) k0mch

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**17. Final Celebration – A True Happy Ending**

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Three days had passed since the ordeal of the End of the World. Jiusenki had been sent to purgatory where he belonged and Reishi had gone back to Makai to try and find any more surviving members of her race. She had completed what she wanted to do – get revenge on the dragon that had killed her family – so now she was content to search the vast underworld of apparitions. Koto had gone back to the Makai as well, and everyone else had returned to the Human World.

The Ningenkai seemed totally unaware that their souls had all just been held captive inside of a large, ugly bird and that a crazy, evil dragon demon had just tried to take over the Earth. The humans all went about their daily business as if nothing had happened – the adults all went to their jobs in their suits, ties, and skirts, the kids all went to school, and the younger children played outside in their backyards, carefree and oblivious to the other two worlds that existed.

The only people who seemed to remember what had happened over the past few days were Kuwabara, Yusuke, Botan, Koenma, and Hiei. Kurama had not yet woken up from his coma, so nobody could know what he was thinking. His body was resting at his house in town; Shiori was away on a business trip and therefore had no idea that her son had not been conscious in over seventy-two hours.

Kurama was still breathing, so he was alive, the group could tell, but for how long would Kurama remain in this floating state? – caught between sleep and conscious life. There was always someone at his bedside, keeping a constant vigil in case he should wake up. Usually it was Hiei, who had spent the last three sleepless nights watching over the fox demon. He was grateful that Kurama had sacrificed his life for him, but he was also embarrassed. Occasionally, he even felt angry that Kurama had saved him, like the previous night…

"You stupid kitsune!" Hiei had growled as he stood alone with Kurama in his bedroom late that night. "You shouldn't have saved me! You should've just let me die!"

In his anger, Hiei had hurled several of Kurama's school textbooks across the room. He didn't care if he broke anything; he was sure Kurama would never wake up to notice. He even grabbed the front of Kurama's T-shirt and shook him vigorously, yelling at him. "Why didn't you just let me die?"

At last, it was morning, and Hiei had fallen asleep with his face stuck to a few loose sheets of paper on Kurama's desk. The sun streamed in through the windows, piercing the darkness of night and waking up the fire demon. He opened his scarlet eyes and moaned, still sleepy from being up so late the night before. He immediately looked over at Kurama, as if expecting to see him sitting up in bed, his bright green eyes staring at him and smiling, but he was immediately disappointed.

Kurama was still unconscious, just lying motionless on the sheets of his bed. His position hadn't moved in the past three days, and Hiei was losing hope as fast as the fine grains of salt slip through an hourglass. The fire demon sighed, staring at Kurama and glaring angrily at him. "Stupid… stupid fox," he mumbled softly, shaking his head.

"Hiei…"

Hiei stopped shaking his head and snapped his face up. He thought he heard Kurama's voice… _No,_ he told himself firmly, forcing his head back down to glare at the floor. _Kurama did not speak to you, and he never will because he's_ dead! _Dead because he gave up his life for me… someone who surely did not deserve it…_

"Hiei…" the voice croaked out again. Hiei couldn't help himself from tentatively looking back up again, but he knew that he was only deluding himself. Finally, his gaze on Kurama lingered long enough to see the fox's eyes open slowly, the emerald green gems dancing brightly in the pale morning light.

Kurama tried to speak again, but Hiei jumped to his side and gave him a look that said, "Don't waste your breath, kitsune." Kurama couldn't help but smile at Hiei's own special way of caring for someone. Hiei returned Kurama's smile with a glare and a traditional, "welcome-back-to-life" "Hn."

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That night, there was a party to celebrate Kurama returning to the conscious world. The whole Reikai Tantei was invited, and they threw a riotous party. Food and balloons were everywhere, and the whole group was just so happy to see Kurama alive again. They had filled him in on all the events that had happened – Hiei constantly having to correct Kuwabara on some of his over-exaggerated facts. 

"And then, this big giant snake came outta nowhere and started to rip Hiei's head off!" Kuwabara exclaimed, using his hands to illustrate his statement. Kurama chuckled, but Hiei shot him a death glare.

"I guess having the two of you be the last two men on earth still didn't make your friendship any closer," Kurama said with a smile. Hiei rolled his eyes and folded his arms, choosing not to reply to Kurama's facetiousness.

Botan summed up what the whole party was all about as the Tantei started to leave towards two o'clock in the morning. Patting Kurama's shoulder, she whispered in his ear, "We're glad to have you back, Kurama."

Too exhausted to clean up after the celebration, Kurama had sank into bed, brushing his hair aside with a happy, but tired sigh. Hiei had stuck around after everyone had left, wanting to thank the kitsune for saving his life in private. He, of course, wouldn't do such a thing in front of everyone else, so he had to wait until they had all left.

Finally, as Kurama was about to tell Hiei to go home and sleep, the fire demon spoke up.

"Kurama," he grunted, avoiding the kitsune's eyes.

"Yes, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"I… I'm glad you sacrificed your life energy for me," Hiei mumbled, his tongue tripping over the words of gratitude. "Thanks."

Kurama smiled, his gaze lingering on Hiei for a moment, then turning to the half-open window to the stars outside. The night sky was a beautiful pitch black, the moon a magnificent crescent shape. The stars reminded the kitsune of Hiei, or rather, Hiei's eyes, which were twin pools of sparkling scarlet – like a supernova. Finally, Kurama looked away from the stars and replied:

"I only did what I thought was right, Hiei. After all, I wouldn't want you to die until the world ends."

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--crazykitsune17-- 


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